


Bedtime Stories

by Periphyton



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Ember Island (Avatar), Everybody needs a cuddle and bedtime story, Gen, POV Multiple, Sokka inherited his fathers A+ parenting skills, Sokka is the best big brother, Southern Water Tribe Mythology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:01:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25544032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Periphyton/pseuds/Periphyton
Summary: Sokka knows everybody is a bit nervous their first night at the Ember Island house, and prepares an evening of big brother bedtime stories.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 126





	Bedtime Stories

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is, my first ATLA fic. I wasn't a kid when it came out, so I'm riding the wave of the ATLA Renaissance now as an adult, courtesy of Netflix. 
> 
> Shout out to AmmoKnotKnot7 for their wonderful work 'What You're Meant For' for the wonderful inspiration about how important Sokka really is. They created Floofy Paws the Brave; I gave him stories with authors permission. Bedtime Stories is meant to be a standalone story but easily fits into the framework of 'What You're Meant For.'  
> < https://archiveofourown.org/works/21116591/chapters/50249441 >
> 
> Also shout out to the marvelous MuffinLance for permission use references from Salvage: the Wani, Water Tribe oral storytelling culture, some of the South Pole creatures, and making life choices.  
> < https://archiveofourown.org/works/21116591/chapters/50249441 >
> 
> The children's names, and inspiration for the story about the aurora, are from a quick google search on Inuit names and mythology. 
> 
> The 'ships are there, but at a platonic level in this story.

Their first night on Ember Island Sokka knew what he had to do. And luckily for Team Avatar, he was very good at doing it. Only one person might be a hard sell even though that was the one who needed it the most. 

It was after dinner when he set up his lair - a large sagging couch, plenty of old cushions and pillows on the floor. The oldest Water Tribe boy from the south pole stealthily added a few blankets to look like they were perfectly randomly placed, and baited his trap. 

“Hey jerkbender, did I ever tell you the story about Floofy Paws the Brave and his friend Skyfire Fox?” 

Zuko groaned with far more drama than necessary. “Sokka, not now. It’s late, we need to get some rest.”

“Exactly. I completely agree, Prince Fireflakes. That’s why we’re having bedtime stories!” Sokka grinned at him. He had perfected and weaponized this big, goofy grin, the type you can’t refuse and don’t even realize what it's doing to you until it's too late. It was the most reliable and trusted weapon in his arsenal to keep a group of kids younger and infinitely more powerful than him in line, and one grumpy teenage firebender didn’t stand a chance. No matter how much he narrowed his eyes and glared, Sokka just grinned a little wider and batted his eyes at him. Not many people could resist his Water Tribe blues, and he knew it. 

“Did Sokka just say bedtime stories?” Toph came back into the room, her hair free from her headband and sticking up everywhere. 

“Oh yeah, bedtime stories!” That was Aang bouncing in on a gust of wind. “Can you tell the one about Floofy Paws the Brave and the Case of the Stolen Seal Blubber?”

Zuko gave Sokka another look indicating how much he was regretting his life choices. “That’s great, I’ll see you in the morning.” He turned to leave and came face to face with Katara.

“Nope. Bedtime stories means everyone.” She poked his chest. Katara knew that Zuko was still a little afraid of her, even after their life-changing field trip. He took a step back.

“C’mon Zuko, you need this too. Here, best seat in the house, right next to the storyteller.” Sokka patted the cushion next to him; he already had a blanket spread out on his lap. Suki was already sitting on Sokka’s other side, hugging her arms around her knees. She winked at him. 

Zuko sat down with a huff and a grumble. “I don’t really need this, I’m just sitting here to listen.”

“Buddy, from one big brother to another, you need this. Besides, it sets a good example for the kids.”

“You know I’m a year older than you, right?”

“Yeah, but I’ve got more cumulative big brother experience. You’ve got just one sister - I’ve been the big brother to Katara, plus Aang and Toph, and Akna, Maruq, Cupun, Hitti, Karima, Nanuka, Pano, Nuva, Pilup, Tapeese, and Amka.”

“Who - “

“The kids in our village. I was the honorary big brother to all of them after the rest of the men left.” Sokka explained. It felt like a different lifetime to Zuko, remembering a boy in blue and white furs running straight at him with a wooden spear, and all the little children watching for their lives. Of course Sokka would still remember every one of their names. Rather than think about the layers of pain hidden behind Sokka’s carefully casual tone comparing their big brother credentials, Zuko shut up and let out only a token huff of displeasure, shaking his bangs out of his eyes.

Toph was already curled up in a nest of pillows and blankets at Sokka’s feet, hugging one of his legs against her chest and resting her head on his knee. Katara was sitting on the floor with pillows and Aang just sat himself down in her lap and leaned back against her. “Ok sifu storyteller, Floofy Paws!” 

“Alright everybody, this is the story of how Floofy Paws the Brave, the best polar dog cub of the Southern Ice, and his friend Skyfire Fox woke the Sleeping Sun in time to come back when the winter night was over . . .”

Katara wiggled into her nest of pillows and blankets and wrapped her arms around the boy she had found in an iceberg, his back pressed against her chest. She closed her eyes to just listen to the sound of her brother's voice shifting tone for each animal that tried to bring back the sun one by one, until finally Floofy Paws the Brave convinced Skyfire Fox to tickle the sun awake with his tail. This story was _home,_ listing all the animals of the Southern Ice, what they were, what they could do. Here in the heart of the Fire Nation her brother was still _home,_ with the brown skin and blue eyes that were once the only type of faces she knew. 

The boomerang that brought down Combustion Man was the same one he had spent hours practicing with as a little boy. Every night he told her about Floofy Paws the Brave who watched over every member of their tribe no matter where they were, so she could fall asleep to the sound of her big brother’s voice after Dad left. Sokka was her brother, and so long as she had her brother she had _home_ with her no matter how much they traveled from one end of the world to the other. 

“ . . . and that is why we see Skyfire Fox’s tail turn the sky pink every spring, just before the sun returns.” Sokka finished. 

“What about Floofy Paws the Brave finding the missing wind?” Aang asked. “When the angry albatross-pidgeon cursed the wind so nobody else could fly, and-”

“Hey, who’s telling the story, me or you? That’s what I thought, so shush.”

Aang shushed and put his hands over Katara’s while Sokka told the tale of an albatross-pidgeon that couldn’t fly and was so jealous of other birds' flight that he asked the wind to stop blowing so that no other birds could fly either. Floofy Paws the Brave had to figure out which bird had complained to the wind spirits by asking each one of them three questions, then Skyfire Fox chased the Bad Bird off a cliff so it started to fly and the wind came back.

The boy closed his eyes and breathed in the air surrounded by his friends. Katara held him just like she did when he came out of the Avatar state and fell back into being just Aang. He loved her for that. No matter if she was his future forever girl or not - she was forever his friend. She always saw him as himself, cared about him as himself, and even sometimes fought with him as just himself. The rest of the world needed the Avatar, but he knew she loved Aang, just Aang. Monk Gyatso had loved him like that too. 

Katara was his love, but Sokka was his _brother_. Ever since he played airball in the Southern Temple to give Aang a few more minutes of innocence, Sokka had been his brother. He played with him, joked with him, told him to go to bed, nagged him to eat his vegetables, and kept them all on schedule. This was his favorite story because it was so similar to Air Nomad stories. Now as Sozin’s Comet was so close, Sokka was still giving them one more night of bedtime stories. 

“ . . . and that was how a stupid, lazy bird learned to fly and stop being afraid of the wind.”

Toph laughed and hugged Sokka’s leg to her chest, rubbing her head against his knee like a cat. She felt the warmth of his skin, his steady heartbeat and breath, his scent and the physical presence that was Sokka. She loved it when he told bedtime stories and she could feel the calm heart beats of their little group around her. Before she left home to train Aang she had daydreamed about an older brother who understood her and loved her for her earthbending and fighting. They would get into so much trouble together! In her dreams he would cheer her on in the Earth Rumble fighting ring and even when they had money they would go and steal anything they wanted and nobody would ever catch them. 

Sokka was better than any big brother she could have ever imagined. He was the best person in the group to pull her blind jokes on because he always overestimated her. She had no idea how good it was to have someone forget the limits of her blindness until he fell for it every time. But he never forgot to hold her hand when she needed it. He would ask about being the Earth Rumble VI Champion when they were flying on Appa so she could talk for hours about her time as the Blind Bandit and forget how she was separated from her element while up in the air. Together they would tease Aang about fartbending, and set up scams to cheat the cheaters. Sokka was the best big brother in the world and she loved him fiercely for that. Sugar Queen would just have to share.

“What about the time Floofy Paws got stuck in the mud?” Toph asked. “And couldn’t get out because his paws were too floofy?”

“Ok, but this is almost my last story so everybody needs to lay down. You too, Fireflakes.”

Toph felt Katara and Aang settle down in their nest like a pair of puppydog dillos, and smoothed over a flagstone that was digging into Aang’s side. Zuko’s heart rate had gone up slightly and he was saying something stupid. “Shush it Sparky. Bedtime story rules - you have to lay down when Sokka tells you to. And get under a blanket!” Zuko was her other big brother who sometimes needed to be her little brother and just shut up and let her take care of him when his heart was being stupid and getting anxious over things like friends and bedtime stories. 

Sokka's legs shifted around her as he reached over for Zuko. She felt both boys’ heart rate jump when Sokka put his arm around Zuko’s shoulders and pulled him down so that the firebender’s head was resting against his thigh. Yeah Sokka had it bad for Zuko alright - and Suki too, however that was going to work out. She would bet a pair of weighted gambling sticks that he had set this whole thing up just so he could cuddle his jerkbender and his girlfriend at the same time. Sokka was the only person Zuko would relax against like this, halfway on his side and stomach with his head in the other boy’s lap. She reached up and took his hand. 

“Snoozles and Sparky,” she sighed happily, and felt how their breathing and heart beats calmed down and fell in sync with each other. Suki had already fallen asleep and was snoring softly. 

“Yep, Snoozles and Sparky, at your service for cuddles and bedtime stories. Now shush yourself if you want to hear about Floofy Paws the Brave and the time Skyfire Fox had to save him from the mud.” Sokka said, and stroked her hair with his other hand. “It happened in the Spring, after Skyfire Fox had tickled the sun to wake her up again. The sun was so happy to be back that she shared with the wind all the warmth she had been storing up while she slept during the winter, so it was warm enough to melt the snow and frozen earth -whoosh! - as it flew across the land. All the ice in the ground bended back into water until the whole tundra was mud, mud, mud! But Floofy’s floofy paws were designed for running on snow and ice, cold and hard, squeaking and crunching under his feet -”

That was the other reason Sokka was her best big brother in the whole world. When he told a story just for her, he told it with what things felt like, not what they looked like. 

“ . . . and that was how Floofy Paws the Brave learned to leave water alone when it bended with the earth, and keep his paws out of the mud.”

Zuko didn’t know if the others were asleep yet or not. All he knew was that he was resting comfortably on an old couch with a musty blanket draped over him, his head on Sokka’s thigh and one hand held by Toph. Sokka’s arm lay across his back, a warm hand resting on his shoulder. Against all odds or expectations he felt safe, nestled here with Toph and Sokka and Suki, knowing that Katara and Aang were right there on the floor in a pillow pile.

He had never had a friend like Sokka before. That wasn’t much of a surprise given his life, but sometimes it did surprise him how much the Water Tribe boy’s friendship mattered to him now. He had barely let himself hope that the Avatar would accept his offer of firebending training out of sheer necessity - the thought that Aang might still want to be his friend was something he forced himself not to dwell on as a distraction. He still had a hard time believing that everyone in this room liked him, trusted him, _cared about him_. Only Mother and Uncle had cared about him, and Mai. Lu Ten had cared, long ago. 

But Sokka wasn’t Mother, or Uncle, or even Mai or Lu Ten. Zuko had never given much thought to what it would be like to have a brother, another boy close to his own age, a friend and battle buddy. Even if he had it would be nothing like being Sokka’s friend. Like someone telling him, _from one big brother to another,_ as if he had any right to consider himself a brother the way Sokka was. Or knowing how awkward it was to bring his new friends to his old family vacation house and arranging for an evening of bedtime stories to make everyone feel more comfortable.

“Um, Sokka? Can - can I get a story?” 

“Of course you can.” That warm hand gripped his shoulder, then relaxed. “I got you, buddy.”

 _I got you, buddy._ Zuko almost forgot what he had wanted to ask about. “What about Skyfire Fox? Is he from the fire we saw at night, up in the sky by the South Pole?”

“You want a story about that? Sure, no problem. So before Skyfire Fox got his name, he was just an ordinary skyfox, running on the ground in the winter, and flying through the air in the summer. In spring he would meet all the new spirits of the animals that had died over the winter, of the wolf, the tusk-seal, the leopard seals and penguins, even the sea-wolf orcas and great whales, who could bend the water high into the sky when they breathe and dance above the waves . . .” 

A year ago in a different lifetime, he had stood with his crew on the _Wani_ and gazed up at the curtains of green and purple fire dancing across the night sky. Uncle had told them all stories about dragons in the spirit world practicing their firebending in the sky, and dancing with life and joy in the flames. For one night he let himself forget about finding the Avatar and restoring his honor, and stood side by side with the rest of the men, mesmerized by beauty they had never expected to encounter. 

Now he was here, half asleep under the arm of the Water Tribe boy telling him a story about a fox finding a magical ball that trailed waves of fire, so the spirits of all the Southern Ice animals could find it as they played with it at night, tossing it back and forth between themselves.

“ . . . and after that, all the chiefs of the animals gathered and gave him a new name, and all across the Ice he was now called Skyfire Fox. Ever since then we can watch the spirits play their games across the night sky.”

Sokka looked around at everyone asleep. His father had once told him that being a man meant being where he was needed most. All through this past crazy year, ever since a fight with his little sister had cracked open an iceberg with a boy and a flying bison in it, he had thought of what that meant. What this crazy little family needed most, whether it was food, safety, information, a teacher for Aang or Katara, surviving a fight, or planning a battle. But tonight everyone needed a big brother and bedtime stories. Even Zuko had needed a big brother and his own story. Sokka stroked his hair and scratched his head lightly, just to hear him whimper and sigh in his sleep. Suki was snoring against his other side. Toph hadn’t let go of his legs in her sleep, although she had put her feet up on a pillow. Aang and Katara were a tumble of dark hair and lighter skin streaked with blue. Sokka was certain that if they survived the comet Aang would become his brother by family and blood as well as friendship. That would be a good thing. Maybe he could spend more time with Suki and actually go on a proper date with her. Under his hand Zuko whimpered again and flinched, and Sokka rubbed his back until he was calm again. 

It was full dark outside, and moonlight shone through the window. “I finally got them all to sleep, Yue,” he whispered. “Took long enough. You’re right, Floofy Paws the Brave really does have the best stories.” She had loved his stories about Floofy Paws when they walked through the ice roads of the Northern Water Tribe glacial city. They had made her laugh, which at that time had been the pinnacle of Sokka’s life choices. 

“Can you keep watch over us, for the rest of the night?” he asked her. “I don’t think I’m getting off the couch until morning.” A bit of wind stirred through the room. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Sokka closed his eyes and shifted to get comfortable as much as he could without waking a royal firebender, master earthbender, and Kyoshi warrior all sleeping on some part of his body. He fell asleep thinking of his own favorite story, about how Floofy Paws the Brave taught wolf pups how to hunt and stood guard against their nightmares.


End file.
